| 2011 Icon Progression Post

[wickedgrdn.livejournal.com]

Jan 03 | 55 icons bel_perdente was still pretty new when I posted these. Unfortunately, I don't have the icons I made the year before to compare these too so I can't really see how I progressed from 2010 to 2011, but I think my style changed pretty drastically from the point when I closed my previous icon comm to when I opened this one. I also started becoming quite fond of the color yellow, LOL. Jan 09 | 60 icons A show I don't icon enough: WHITE COLLAR. Plus, more yellows. I think I was trying to experiment more with color and light than anything else with these icons. Notice the lack of text on most of these? Yeah, I was going through a phase where I hated just about everything I was doing text-wise, especially my tendency to use a lot of tiny text. On a positive note though, I do love what I was doing in terms of texture use and the application of different 'not of the norm' colors. Feb 01 | 45 icons Not a lot of spectacular things going on in this post. For some reason, I was really in love with clouds and sky because I notice a lot of these icons use abuse the cloud/sky textures. I think I was experimenting a lot with different versions of black and white icons here as well, really straying from the straight up black & white and going with more faded versions. My favorite icon of this post is hands down the Spartacus icon. I still love how the crop turned out on this one. Feb 08 | 50 icons MORE YELLOW OMG. Clearly, this is a trend in my icons that I am not so eager to let go of. I love the simplicity of this batch. Some icons just WORK, ya know? My faves of this batch are the Veronica Mars icons, particularly the close crop icon of Veronica. I was really flexing my crop 'muscle' with a lot of these. ;D Mar 01 | 30 icons I notice my text use was back in full force! I discovered a lot of new fonts around the time these were posted and I think I was heavily inspired by the text use of neversleeps. Don't be ashamed to be inspired by icon makers you love. There's a lot I dislike in this post (like all the yellow, wth was I thinking!), but overall this is a good post to me. Mar 07 | 25 icons My most experimental icon batch to date. I still get comments on these icons praising the hell out of them. Honestly, I think I hate all of these except the ones I chose to show off for this post. :S But a lot of people liked them and I'm glad. This movie was inspiring and amazing and my first introduction to the brilliance of JJ Abrams! Apr 02 | 70 icons Probably my most favorite batch of Supernatural icons. Nothing really deviates from my current style here and the text use is a little on the overdone side, but all in all I really love this post. I think this is my favorite post ever. Apr 14 | 50 icons I think what I love most about this batch is the text. Usually when I find new fonts I go a little crazy and it ends up being overdone but I like to think it looks pretty good here. I think this was when I first found the font 'Riot Squad'. OMG, my most favorite font EVER. I use it a lot. Even now! Apr 21 | 65 icons OMG, the Ally McBeal post. I'm still a little embarrassed about it, tbqh. Little known obscure shows from the 90's FTW, I guess. I also participated in ic0nfest at this time and one of the prompts was for Fringe, which was what got me first interested in checking out the show because SO PRETTY. Apr 28 | 60 icons First Fringe post! I think what attracted me to this show was how pretty it was. It's shot so artistically and so beautifully that it's really hard to resist. Plus, I got some amazing crops from these caps - specifically from the Pilot episode. I still love the Pilot of Fringe, probably the prettiest episode of tv ever. I still make a lot of icons from the Pilot, LOL. May 06 | 30 icons New obsession much? LOL, when I get into a show I do it the right way! I love the cropping, text and texture use in this post! I'll say it again, Fringe is so much fun to icon. I don't think I'll ever stop loving this show and all that pretty. May 20 | 50 icons This was mostly just challenge entries, but I love a lot of things about this post. It was a very experimental one for me. That's what I love about challenges, you get to flex the muscles of your creativity and imagination a little more, I think. I definitely was thinking waaay outside the box with some of these! May 31 | 50 icons Just your standard request icons post. There's a lot of different fandoms and people in this one. I love how diverse the members of this community are and the wide array of fandoms and celebrities and interests you guys always give me when I offer up requests. So much fun to icon! :) June 20 | 65 icons I really don't like this post. I think I had hit a wall creatively. It happens to me sometimes in the summer when all the shows are on hiatus and I've iconned everything! I start grasping at straws on what to icon and this happens. Not that there's anything particularly wrong with the icons, it's just that they lack....something. Shortly after this post I decided to take a hiatus from iconning, which is why there's a huge gap in posts between June and August. Aug 11 | 20 icons A smallish post to get back into the iconning swing of things after my hiatus. Nothing really different going on here. I do love the texture use in this post. And the colors really worked well! Aug 18 | 40 icons My favorite Fringe post to date. I really went wild with different colors, crops, composition and text. I get a lot of praise for this batch. And for once, I actually agree. CONCEPT I KNOW. *gg* Aug 27 | 55 icons A full-on experimental batch of icons. This went above and beyond what I normally do. Sometimes you just examine your stuff and think about how you can improve and BOOM this happens. I love this post. Particularly, the BTVS icons. They just came together in such a way that left me a little impressed with myself. Doesn't happen often, though! Sept 05 | 80 icons A lovely post, I guess. There's not much that stands out to me on this one, aside from ALL THE YELLOW. I really didn't hate yellow did I? I think my love affair with yellow was probably the most drastic difference in my icons from this past year as opposed to years before. IDEK YOU GUYS but there it is. Sept 13 | 47 icons FAVORITE POST EVER. NO REALLY. I think this post was my turning point this year. I give HY-uge snaps to 20inspirations for bringing creativity and imagination back to my icons with the community's thoughtful and yes, inspiring challenges. The challenges really allow you to expand on everything you've ever learned about icon making and then just takes it to the next level. I'm not even kidding. I hadn't participated in a 20in20 before this so it was new, different and SO MUCH FUN. And I'm still loving it. Whoever created this community deserves huge props. Probably my most favorite challenge community! Sept 22 | 35 icons These icons are from when Ringer premiered. I was so excited to have SMG back on my tv screen that I dove right in. This post is really good, IMO. I love the different things I did composition-wise with these. A very 'out of the box' post for me. Oct 02 | 50 icons More challenge entries & whatnot. More experimental stuff. And a fondness for the color blue. Oct 10 | 26 icons My favorite batch of BTVS icons this year. I credit inspired20in20 completely for this batch. The challenge was 'Zoom' and it allowed me to really play around with crops and composition! A really fun, colorful different kind of icon batch for me. Oct 17 | 55 icons I highly recommend that everyone watch Lost Girl. If you're an icon maker it's absolute heaven to make icons from this show. SO PRETTY. This post is pretty much my standard stuff. Lots of text, crops and different compositions. Nov 03 | 41 icons I adore the hell out of this post. This is also about the time I started developing a crazy obsession with the blend mode Lighten. Such awesomeness for blending on icons. I'll admit I've been abusing the hell out of it, but I don't care. It makes pretty icons. 'Nuff said. Nov 14 | 54 icons This was a fun post! I really enjoyed the Light & Dark challenge at 20inspirations. I don't make a lot of light colored icons, so this allowed me to venture into unknown territory a little bit. And they turned out great. Dec 01 | 50 icons Favorite post of the year. Hands down. I discovered a lot of new textures (and some not new, but ones I'd never used before that I've had for ages!) namely ones by pandavirus. I think my texture usage is probably the thing that has improved the most for me this past year. I'm really paying more attention to how you can incorporate textures into icons in more ways than just adding light and/or color to an icon. I adore the freakin crap out of this post. It also includes my the best icon I've ever made to date (which just happens to be my default!). I love everything about this post and frankly, I don't think I'll ever be able to duplicate this one. Dec 07 | 27 icons This post is another one of my faves. I don't know where my muse came up with this stuff but it worked really really well. Some of my best work to date, if I do say so myself. Dec 14 | 34 icons Last batch of the year. If you look at the beginning of the year and these icons? Oh yeah. Drastic difference. My icons are definitely a lot more complex than they used to be. I've also tried to get out of the rut of crop/color/text that has kind of defined my style for the 4+ years I've been making icons. I used to say I was more of a minimalist when it comes to my icons, but I don't think I can really say that anymore. I'm excited about the icons I'll post in 2012 and excited about the prospect of taking my icons to another exciting new level. I hope you guys will be along for the ride! Thanks for hanging in thus far with me. There will definitely be much much more to come in the new year!

Comments

[rowofstars.livejournal.com]

So basically you went from awesome to awesomer. XD *thumbs up* I love how your icons have become more complex. Your Fringe icons are some of my favorites in all of existence and I'm excited to see where 2012 takes you!

[g0ldstaarr.livejournal.com]

Amazing icons as always, and I'm excited to see what you come up with in 2012 :)

[rocketgirl2.livejournal.com]

Wow, it's great to see how far you've come this year, especially in terms of texture use and complexity. I cannot wait to see what awesome new things you come up with in 2012!

[ohgollygeedamn.livejournal.com]

What I don't understand is how your icons started out this year flawless and perfect and then you STILL got even better! It defies logic honestly. Your style just keeps improving and developing and everything is so steadily getting more incredible. Looking forward to seeing what you come up with in 2012!